Wednesday - 10 March 2010
Archive for May 20th, 2009
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
20 May 2009Preah Sihanouk provincial court ordered the detention of four men on Tuesday for allegedly inciting violence in a land dispute with a wealthy businessman.
Yos Saran, 53, Kok Bunchhoeun, 53, Soy Sokha, 39, and “Mr. Ko,” around 30, were summoned by investigating judge Svay Tonh, who decided to put them in provisional detention for committing and inciting violence.
The charges stem from a land dispute that has been running since 2007, when businessman Chhun Hour requested to the government’s National Authority for Resolution of Land Disputes that 250 of 353 families be removed from 60 hectares of his land.
Residents say they have lived on the land for years and have nowhere else to go.
“Why are we living there for six or ten years and we cannot get the land-sharing”, asked Hok Bunna, one of a hundred protesters outside the provincial court Tuesday. “Investigating judge Svay Tonh summoned them for interrogation, and by the end of interrogation, the military police came and brought them to prison.”
Pok Sabon, an investigator for the rights group Licadho, said the protesters were beaten by military police as they tried to stop the truck carrying accused, though no one was wounded.
Chhun Hour could not be reached for comment, but court prosecutor Bou Bun Heang said the villagers were living on the businessman’s property.
Source | Comments Off
Posted in Cambodia News, KI Media | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will lead a high-level delegation to attend the Commemorative Summit for the 20th Anniversary of ASEAN-Republic of Korea Dialogue Relation to be held on June 1-2, the ...
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 Written by Sam Rith and Christoper Shay
The Phnom Penh Post
General Ke Kim Yan, former commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, was officially named Tuesday as head of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) in a move that Prime Minister Hun Sen said signalled the government's renewed focus on eliminating Cambodia's drugs trade.
Hun Sen urged authorities from all levels at an announcement ceremony to crack down on drug distribution "immediately", saying that drug deals had too often been ignored.
"Even though the distribution and sale of drugs is on a small scale, it causes anarchy and insecurity in society," he said.
Son Chhay, a Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker, said Ke Kim Yan was stepping into a difficult job, but that his influence in the army could make him particularly effective at stamping out the cross-border drug trade.
He said drugs smuggling relied on the support of a few high-ranking army officials.
"He knows the officials under his command, and if there are any soldiers involved in the drug business, he can take measures to combat trafficking," Son Chhay said.
Anand Chaudhuri, head of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Cambodia, said that over the years the drugs authority had worked closely with UNODC and notched a number of successes, but that the drug trade remained a problem.
"[Drug trafficking] is an increasingly complex problem, but the drug police have been increasingly tracking and monitoring it," he said.
Between 2000 and 2009, the NACD arrested 3,531 people and collected 2,693,407 amphetamine pills, 105 kilograms of heroin and 14 tonnes of dried marijuana, according to the authority's data.
Graham Shaw, a technical adviser at the WHO, said drugs trafficking remains a critical issue.
"From a public health perspective, the law enforcement approach has failed everywhere else in the world. Why would it be any different in Cambodia?"
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News, KI Media | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009Written by Meas Sokchea The Phnom Penh Post THE opposition Sam Rainsy Party in a statement released on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the results of Sunday's provincial, district and municipal council elections, and pledged that its new councilors will cooperate with CPP officials to work for the betterment of the Cambodian people.
Provisional election results released Monday by the National Election Committee (NEC) show the CPP winning about three-quarters of the vote on the new councils.
In addition to its cooperation, the SRP vowed to use its presence at lower levels of government to bring local voices into the process.
"All [SRP] officials have promised to fulfill their obligations as councilors in every way and ensure that they will honour the responsibilities given to them," the party's statement said.
"It is a chance to serve all people, oppose every abuse and provide proper services for the people." The statement added that the election would help dilute the total control exercised by the ruling party at lower levels of government.
SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said Tuesday that the party had gained at least 578 seats across the country in Sunday's poll.
But senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap dismissed the SRP statement, saying it was motivated by "pride".
He also rejected the claim that the CPP held a monopoly of control at the district and provincial levels, saying all elected parties bore some responsibility for government policy.
"We are part of a ruling coalition, and the SRP also has seats in parliament, so [it] cannot deny responsibility," he said. "They have participated in the making of laws as well."
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News, KI Media | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
The SSN office building on Norodom Boulevard enjoyed high rentals in recent years. (Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON)
Wednesday, 20 May 2009Written by Soeun Say
The Phnom Penh Post25% Fall in office rentals
Average office rentals in Phnom Penh have dropped around 25 percent from the first half of 2008 due in part to the global economic crisis, according to National Valuers Association of Cambodia figures.
Figures from Valuers association show that commercial space is becoming cheaper, eroding rapid rental increases during Cambodia's boom years.
Average rentals for office space in Phnom Penh were down around 25 percent in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, according with estimates from the National Valuers Association of Cambodia.
Figures first released late last month at a conference in Vietnam show that office space in the capital was fetching $12 per square metre per month on average over the first three months of 2008, down from $16 per square metre over the first half of 2008.
Rentals began falling in the middle of last year after the global economic downturn kicked in, dropping to an average of $14 per square metre, the figures showed.
"Because of the impact of the global financial crisis, rentals for office space has dropped," association President Sung Bonna said.
"Now there is not much demand, but we have a big supply of office space and commercial property for rent."
Asking rentals for top office space had dropped from between $30 and $35 a square metre to between $25 and $28, he added.
The downturn comes after years of soaring rentals in the capital due to rapid economic growth amid a shortage of suitable office space.
According to the valuers association's figures, average rentals were just $6 per square metre in 2006 and $10 in 2007.
Less chasing more
Vutha Oum, director of Angkor Khmer Real Estate agreed that rentals for office space and commercial property had decreased, blaming a downturn in demand and an increase in overall supply.
At least six new office buildings had come on the market over the last couple of months, he said, and further decreases in rent were likely.
He said landlords were reducing rentals to attract clients. "Some owners of office buildings have tried to offer discounts of up to 50 percent but they are still finding it hard to get clients," Vutha Oum said.
Sear Chilin, director of Visal Real Estate, said it was unlikely that all available office space would be taken because Cambodia's business environment was "unstable".
Chun Keng, general manager of a new building on Monireth Boulevard in Stung Meanchey district, said he had been unable to fill his three-month-old building despite reducing rents between 40 and 50 percent to $5.50 per square metre.
"I haven't got clients even though I have discounted prices between 40 and 50 percent," he said.
Mony Sokha, managing director of an office building on Sihanouk Boulevard in Boeung Raing district, said discounts had helped him attract some tenants.
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News, KI Media | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Ms Smoel, who had faced a possible five years in jail for allegedly stealing a bar mat, has been given a six-month suspended jail term and a 1,000 baht ($38) fine for theft. Officials at the Phuket P...
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Australian woman Annice Smoel has been released from detention in Thailand and is free to travel home, according to reports in Phuket. The Phuket Wan website says Ms Smoel, who faced five years in jai...
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
FILE - In this file photo taken Monday, April 20, 2009, a Cambodian photographer, left, takes a photo of former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, on a screen at a court pres...
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
The mother of a British woman who became pregnant while being held on drug charges in Laos has said her daughter was not raped or sexually assaulted in prison. Jane Orobator said her 20-year-...
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Washington, May 20 : Sorrawee Nattee has officially been named the Miss Ladyboy 009 in Thailand.
Source | Discuss this article
Posted in Cambodia News | No Comments »
